If Only Perhaps

If only I could pinpoint
That moment in time
When the flutter of spring
In my chest, in my mind
Became rustling leaves
Of a life gone awry
Careening in vain 
Toward days gone bone dry.

Perhaps then I’d speak
The language of bloom
With untempered curiosity
And absence of gloom
Where dreams are forged
In possibility and truth
Those seated securely
On the bedrock of youth.

And yet to unfurl memories
Is a glorious thing
For a nostalgic tomorrow
The present will bring.
In that moment I’ll recall
The climb and the crawl
The dance to survive
The light and the squall.

And each time I swim
In the river of thought
Swirled tropes propel
Only one to the top:
A life well lived is drenched
In the here and the now
It is breathing awareness
Into the truth we avow.

Puerto Vallarta, 2009
Photo: Bernardo de Albergaria
pennedbyalina ©2021